In the fast-paced world, when we are facing unpredictable demands and stress, it is quite common that most of us often suffer from high blood pressure. This silent killer will, no doubt, cause you to suffer much. We usually consider hypertension a problem resulting from our dietary and lifestyle issues and also they are evaluated first.
Doctors suggest a patient with hypertension improve the diet and be more active in regular work. But what we often overlook is the impact of the way of thinking on blood pressure. Yes, your emotions indeed have a noticeable influence on your health, especially on your blood pressure.
So, if you are diagnosed with hypertension, besides diet management, you need to change your thoughts. It will also help you to decrease the need for medication. Do not worry, clinics such as Northern Health Centers can ease your situation by assisting and reviewing health products and techniques to lead you towards a healthier life.
You get what you think
You eventually do what you think. Your subliminal minds take your thoughts into account and make those into existence. When you are in stress with your job, loans, family, or any stressful situation, your body releases stress hormones known as adrenaline and cortisol into the bloodstream. The release of these hormones influences your body to ‘accomplish or escape’ the condition, raise the heartbeat frequency, and squeeze the blood vessels
Thus, your blood pressure is increased, and it again comes back to normal when the stress is gone. But, if the tension becomes chronic and becomes a part of your daily life, it becomes hard to handle, and you are more prone to suffer from high blood pressure. Some people make the situation even worse by finding a way to escape stress by excessive smoking or drinking.
Researchers found out that hypertension is often increased by:
- Poorly managed anger
- Aversion
- Chronic stress
- Despondency
- Defensiveness
Therefore, if we want to reduce the problems associated with the development of high blood pressure, we need to change the way of thinking and use relaxation methods more and more.
Identifying the difficulty
Most of the time, we develop anxiety because of the panic of the unknown and get frightened of losing control over the situation. Instead of fleeing from your stress, you need to identify and try to manage it emotionally and psychologically. In such a condition, for example, if your work fear is a cause of increased blood pressure, work on it, make the evaluations, and if the situation seems to go beyond your control, try to get prepared for such situations.
Changing what you think about
If your hypertension is an effect of chronic stress, you, by human nature, will try to escape the cause of anxiety and think that the condition will be fine soon. Such a thought with no action will further add to the anxiety and cause you to suffer more.
Again, we focus on protecting against the failure in life and prioritise evil over welfare. We only increase the negativity and frustrations by thinking about the bad experiences of life. Such frustrations and thoughts affect our body and mind adversely, causing severe hypertension.
To check your blood pressure, besides having a balanced diet, do not run away from your problems. Rather face them and do some planning to overcome. Be positive and take proper actions to decrease the level of anxiety. You can successfully combat any stress or problem that is increasing your hypertension by changing the transcendent subject of your thinking.
Again, you obviously know what may raise your tension and try to bypass them. This way, you can keep yourself away from anxiety and deal with the elements of the problem. Do not forget, when you drive your emotions positively, they will reverse the impacts of the negativity of your mind, produce psychological resources, improve your mental strength, and reduce high blood pressure eventually.
Relaxation
Amid the business of buzzing life, it is very imperative to present yourself with time and relax so that you can enjoy a sound mind in a sound physique. You have two options for relaxation: active and passive ways.
Find some time for yourself and get involved in the sport or activity you like. Such a break from the normal activities of life will improve you both physically and mentally.
For relaxing passively, find a quiet place, breathe deeply, and spend 15–20 minutes to calm your mind regularly. It is a great way to reduce your blood pressure promptly.
In anxiety-driven high blood pressure, defensive behaviour is proven to be dangerous. So, do not get defensive, rather try to express your emotions and thoughts healthily, work on the psychological determinants, take a positive breath, and action.
Turning and changing the way of your predominant thinking to positivity, influences your body and mind to get improved and check your blood pressure. So, try to avoid frustrations, change your thoughts, take proper actions to eliminate the anxiety related to a problem so that you can reduce high blood pressure, and walk towards a healthy life.
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Image credit: Freepik
Peter Wallace has been an advocate for mental health awareness for years. He holds a master’s degree in counselling from the University of Edinburgh.
